Alex Zayne On Rumors That Karrion Kross’ WWE RAW Losses Were A “Signal To NXT”
Former WWE NXT Superstar Ari Sterling, now back to being known as Alex Zayne, is not buying the conspiracy theory that Karrion Kross' booking on WWE RAW has been "a signal" to the NXT roster from Vince McMahon.
After Kross lost his main roster debut last month, there was said to be a lot of "shock and frustration" among NXT personnel, as they felt the outcome represented how the NXT brand is viewed by WWE higher-ups as a whole.
"I can tell you from being there [on NXT], and also from the outside looking in, things are less cryptic and nuanced," Zayne told The Wrestling Inc. Daily recently. "If Vince wants to send a signal, he's just going to come out and say it. I think speculation like that can be a little silly sometimes, because they're not writing riddles on the back of napkins, and asking fans to figure it out. Conspiracy theories are fun but the world is actually less interesting than what you've put together in the mind. The wrestling world is probably even less interesting."
Zayne was among over a dozen NXT Superstars released by WWE earlier this month. When asked by Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman to touch upon his relationship with Triple H, Zayne said he never got to spend much time with The Game during his WWE stint.
"I didn't spend much time with Triple H," Zayn said. "I was around him for TV and stuff like that, but was around the coaches for the most part. Guys like coach Bloom, coach Smiley and coach Corrino really helped me. Ace Steel coached me for the majority of the time I was there, and even Sonjay Dutt before he left. I love all these guys, even Scotty 2 Hotty, he's my dude.
"Eventually, I did become friends with the producers as well. Shoutout to Dewey Foley [who writes for the 205 Live brand]. Everyone was really cool. It's kind of a shame that things are where they are right now. Hopefully, they find some steady footing and less people have to fall off. I'm actually in a fortunate position since I was already eating on the indies, but some of these other people are from athletic backgrounds who've never worked the indies. And now, they're pretty good damn good wrestlers and have to navigate all this."
Zayne said he was trying to help some of his departed WWE colleagues find work in the indie circuit.
"A couple of the boys who got released along with me have reached out," Zayne revealed. "I really want to help them out. We just come from two different backgrounds. I was doing the indie thing starting way back in 2005, and now everything is different compared to back then. Those were the real hotdog and handshake days unlike now."
You can following Alex on Twitter @AriSterlingWWE
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